Business rate rises capped

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay made a statement on business rates to MSPs

Published:16:59Tuesday 21 February 2017

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay has announced measures to help North-east firms facing massive business rate rises.

He told MSPs this afternoon that increases for 8,500 premises in the hospitality sector would be capped at 12.5%.

The cap would also apply to more than 1000 office premises in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.

The minister had been under mounting pressure to announce assistance with companies in the North-east warning of closures and major job losses.

Aberdeenshire Council co-leader Richard Thomson said: “This is extremely good news for the North-east.

“I’ve had a number of discussions with the Finance Secretary over the past few weeks about the impact of the recent revaluations om Aberdeenshire businesses, particularly on the hospitality sector.

“Mr Mackay has clearly listened to what businesses in the North-east have been saying as well as to the strong case put forward by the council’s leadership, and has come back with a further tranche of support for business.”

He added: “Aberdeenshire Council is currently inviting views from local businesses on how best to shape our own £3 million local relief scheme.

“Today’s announcement boosts what was already a substantial package of support for North-east businesses and will allow us to assist more businesses across more sectors than would otherwise have been the case.”